Director: Kathryn Morgan
Faculty: Fouad (Medicine), Hall (Theatre), Ibelema (Communication Studies), Jolly (Public Health), King (History and Anthropology), Lewis (Political Science), Morgan (Justice Sciences), Musa (Marketing), Panion (Music), Turner (Music)
African American Studies is an interdisciplinary liberal arts degree program sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences. The program integrates the humanities, social and behavioral sciences, and health-related fields. It is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the cultural values and experiences that connect people of African descent, beginning in Africa and extending to the Caribbean, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe.
The major in African American Studies consists of 39 hours, including 30 hours of required courses and 9 hours of electives, with at least three 400-level courses. Elective courses may focus on four possible study areas - Creative Arts (CA), Global/Social Justice (GJ), Public Health and Medicine (HM), or Public Affairs (PA). No grade below C may be counted as credit toward the major or minor in African American Studies.
Major Requirements for African American Studies
| Requirements | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| AAS 200 | Introduction to African-American Studies | 3 |
| AAS 320 | African Identity/Personality | 3 |
| AAS 330 | African Aesthetics and Traditional Religion | 3 |
| AAS 420 | Public Health and Medical Issues in African Communities | 3 |
| AAS 493 | Capstone Seminar | 3 |
| or AAS 495 | Individual Studies | |
| Required Writing Course | ||
| Select one of the following: | 3 | |
| Writing in African American Studies | ||
| Introduction to Creative Writing | ||
| Reading, Writing, and Research for English Majors | ||
| Newswriting and Reporting I | ||
| English Courses | ||
| Select two of the following: | 6 | |
| African American Literature, 1746-1954 | ||
| African American Literature, 1954-Present | ||
| African Literature | ||
| African Women's Literature | ||
| Special Topics in African American Literature | ||
| African American Autobiography | ||
| African American Dramatic Tradition | ||
| African American Poetry Tradition | ||
| The Slave Narrative and Its Literary Expressions | ||
| Black Women Writers | ||
| The Harlem Renaissance | ||
| History Courses | ||
| Select two of the following: | 6 | |
| African-American History to 1865 | ||
| African-American History Since 1865 | ||
| Topics in African American History | ||
| U.S. Civil Rights Movement | ||
| Topics in African American History | ||
| Approved Electives | ||
| Select three of the following: | 9 | |
| Jazz Styles: History and Appreciation (CA) | ||
| Special Topics in African-American Studies | ||
| African American Music (CA) | ||
| Black Image: Screen and Television (GJ) | ||
| Medieval African Technology (PA) | ||
| Seminar in African American Studies | ||
| African American Studies Internship | ||
| Peoples of the World: Africa | ||
| African/Native American/Oceanic Art | ||
| African Art (CA) | ||
| Race and Representation (CA) | ||
| Ethnographic Filmmaking/SL (GJ & PA) | ||
| Minority Aging (GJ & PA) | ||
| Race, Crime, Gender and Social Policy (GJ) | ||
| The Evolution of Jazz (CA) | ||
| Politics and Race in America (GJ) | ||
| African Politics | ||
| Psychology of the African American Child (HM) | ||
| Race and Ethnic Relations (GJ & PA) | ||
| Minority Health | ||
| Sociology of Hip Hop | ||
| Racism, Sexism and Other Isms | ||
| Exploring the African-American Creative Experience (CA) | ||
| Total Hours | 39 | |
Minor Requirements for African American Studies
| Requirements | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| AAS 200 | Introduction to African-American Studies | 3 |
| AAS 300 | African American Music | 3 |
| or AAS 250 | Special Topics in African-American Studies | |
| AAS 310 | Black Image: Screen and Television | 3 |
| AAS 320 | African Identity/Personality | 3 |
| AAS 330 | African Aesthetics and Traditional Religion | 3 |
| AAS 420 | Public Health and Medical Issues in African Communities | 3 |
| Total Hours | 18 | |
Proposed Program of Study for a Major in African-American Studies
| Freshman | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| First Term | Hours | Second Term | Hours |
| EH 101 | 3 | EH 102 | 3 |
| AAS 200 | 3 | ||
| 6 | 3 | ||
| Sophomore | |||
| First Term | Hours | Second Term | Hours |
| HY 223 | 3 | AAS 300 | 3 |
| AAS 290 | 3 | HY 224 | 3 |
| 6 | 6 | ||
| Junior | |||
| First Term | Hours | Second Term | Hours |
| AAS 320 | 3 | AAS 310 | 3 |
| AAS 330 | 3 | EH 366 | 3 |
| EH 365 | 3 | ||
| 9 | 6 | ||
| Senior | |||
| First Term | Hours | Second Term | Hours |
| AAS 400 | 3 | AAS 420 | 3 |
| AAS 495 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 6 | ||
| Total credit hours: 45 | |||
Courses
AAS 165. Jazz Styles: History and Appreciation. 3 Hours.
American jazz with emphasis on instrumental and vocal performers, jazz bands, and combos. Development of big band, swing, and popular music.
AAS 200. Introduction to African-American Studies. 3 Hours.
Examination of seven core areas of African American Studies: History, Religion, Social Organization, Politics, Economics, Creative Production, and Psychology. Emphasizes major thematical theoretical and critical discourses of Black Studies, and its emergence as a political/social movement and discipline. Relates the latter to the complexity and diversity of contemporary movements such as Civil Rights, Free Speech, Black Power, and Afro-centricism. Majors and minors in African American Studies should complete this course before enrolling in any higher level AAS course. Ethics and Civic Responsibility are significant components of this course (QEP).
AAS 223. African-Amer Hist to Civil War. 3 Hours.
Survey of the African American experience from Pre-Colonial Africa to the End of the Civil War.
AAS 224. African American History Since 1865. 3 Hours.
Survey of late 19th century to present African American history.
AAS 250. Special Topics in African-American Studies. 3 Hours.
Specific topic in African American Studies.
AAS 290. Writing in African American Studies. 3 Hours.
Course offers students continued practice in reading, research, and writing central to academic investigation and to interdisciplinary approaches. Develops skills in writing across disciplines and critical thinking. Emphasizes readings on diverse, contemporary, and multicultural issues in African American Studies. Writing, Ethics and Civic Responsibility are significant components of this course (QEP).
AAS 300. African American Music. 3 Hours.
Survey, history and appreciation of African derived music and its presence in the United States from its earliest forms in spirituals, blues and jazz to contemporary forms of be-bop, hip-hop, reggae, and rap.
AAS 310. Black Image: Screen and Television. 3 Hours.
History and definition of the image of the African-ancestored people in the United States through cinema and television.
AAS 320. African Identity/Personality. 3 Hours.
This course is a study of the African identity, personality, and the concept of ¿blackness¿ with particular emphasis on what it means to be black in America. An adequate discourse on the complexities of African American Studies requires a multi-disciplinary approach that considers the expansive nature of the African Experience in North America. Accordingly, any substantive intellectual and scholarly foundation for critically understanding the salient areas of this course require the application of cross-discipline areas of study involving race, culture, socioeconomics, history, African American political behavior, and psychosocial theories of development. Quantitative Literacy is a significant component of this course (QEP).
AAS 330. African Aesthetics and Traditional Religion. 3 Hours.
African aesthetics, African cosmology, and qualities of African spirituality.
AAS 340. Medieval African Technology. 3 Hours.
Development, evolution, and impact of foundational African technology on contemporary inventions in architecture, engineering, and medicine.
AAS 366. African American Literature II. 3 Hours.
Cultural values from James Baldwin in 1950s, through black nationalist, civil rights, and black feminist movements, to contemporary writers such as Ishmael Reed, Charles Johnson, and Toni Morrison.
Prerequisites: EH 101 [Min Grade: C] and EH 102 [Min Grade: C] and AAS 200 [Min Grade: C]
AAS 400. Seminar in African American Studies. 3 Hours.
Specific topic in African American Studies.
Prerequisites: AAS 200 [Min Grade: C]
AAS 420. Public Health and Medical Issues in African Communities. 3 Hours.
Critical health issues affecting Black communities globally including HIV, AIDS, cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart disease/hypertension, malaria.
AAS 447. African-American Dramatic Tradition. 3 Hours.
Development of African American dramatic tradition from the nineteenth century through the Harlem Renaissance and Black Arts movement to contemporary postmodernism, including Brown, Hurston, Baraka, and Wilson.
AAS 448. African American Poetry Tradition. 3 Hours.
Development of African American poetry from its early works to the present, including Wheatley, Dumbar, Hughes, Brooks, and Angelou.
Prerequisites: EH 101 [Min Grade: C] and EH 102 [Min Grade: C]
AAS 490. African American Studies Internship. 3 Hours.
On campus and off cmapus training positions in filed utilizing cross disciplinary skills, with some positions offering external funding. Students should contact the Program Director for listings of available positions and application procedures. May be counted as elective only. Preq: Junior or senior standing as African American Studies major and approval of application. May be repeated once for credit. 3 hours. Permission of the Program Director is needed.
AAS 493. Capstone Seminar. 3 Hours.
Specific topics vary...The course will provide an opportunity for students to reflect upon and to use the knowledge, skills and dispositions developed in previous African American Studies coursework. This course or AAS 495 required of all AAS majors. AAS 493 is ideally taken in the final undergraduate semester. Preq: 9 hours AAS coursework at the 400 level and permission of the Program Director. 3 hours.
AAS 495. Individual Studies. 3 Hours.
Specific topics vary. An individually designed course for semi-independent research or guided readings in areas and subjects that synthesize the African American Studies core areas. The course will provide an opportunity for students to reflect upon and use the knowledge, skills, and disposition developed in previous African American Studies coursework. This course or AAS 493 required of all AAS majors. AAS 495 is ideally taken in the final undergradute semster. Consult Program Director for procedure to apply for this course.